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CLEVELAND (AP) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Thursday backed off his assertion that pork-barrel spending led to last year's deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis. With Democrats criticizing him for citing wasteful spending as the cause of the disaster, McCain told reporters in Cleveland, "No, I said it would have received a higher priority, which it deserved." That statement was in contrast to McCain's remarks to reporters aboard his campaign bus as it rolled through Pennsylvania on Wednesday: "The bridge in Minneapolis didn't collapse because there wasn't enough money. The bridge in Minneapolis collapsed because so much money was...

Republican John McCain said Wednesday that the bridge collapse in Minnesota that killed 13 people last year would not have happened if Congress had not wasted so much money on pork-barrel spending. Federal investigators cite undersize steel plates as the "critical factor" in the collapse of the bridge. Heavy loads of construction materials on the bridge also contributed to the disaster that injured 145 people on Aug. 1, according to preliminary findings by the National Transportation Safety Board. "The bridge in Minneapolis didn't collapse because there wasn't enough money," McCain told reporters while campaigning in Pennsylvania. "The bridge in Minneapolis...

Old photos of the Interstate 35W bridge show two steel connecting plates were visibly bent as early as 2003 — four years before the span collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people. Minnesota Department of Transportation officials declined to say when the state first knew about the bending in the pieces of steel, called gusset plates. Two photos, part of a report issued earlier this month by the National Transportation Safety Board, reveal slight bends in gusset plates that hold beams together at two separate connecting points. The plates are in areas believed to be among the first points...

MIAMI, March 12, 2008 – Two military officers were recognized in front of their peers March 4 for assisting civil authorities during recovery operations following the I-35 West Minneapolis bridge collapse in August. Navy Capt. Bradley Gawboy, left, and Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek participate in a panel discussion 2008 Joint National Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer Workshop in Miami. Gawboy received the Joint Service Commendation Medal and the Minnesota Commendation Ribbon with Pendant during the workshop. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Maj. Paul Stevenson  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Col. Michael Chesney and Navy Capt. Bradley Gawboy...

The collapse of the St. Anthony Bridge in Minneapolis started with a design flaw in the gusset plates, confirming suspicions that arose in the first week of the investigation. A source familiar with the conclusion told CNN earlier this morning that the NTSB will announce that finding later today, ending speculation that poor maintenance caused the deaths of 13 people last August: Federal investigators have identified a design flaw as the cause of last year's Interstate 35W Minneapolis bridge collapse that killed 13 people, a congressional official said Tuesday. The official, who was briefed by the National Transportation Safety Board,...

It's been three months since the I-35W bridge collapse, and shovels are about to be put into the ground to begin construction of the replacement. And as sure as the Minnesota winter is cold, victims and their lawyers are lining up with their hands out, demanding compensation. Meanwhile, politicians are tripping over each other to see who can shovel the most of someone else's money at these people, the better to claim the mantle of “compassion” and then browbeat anyone who objects with angry cries of how one could be so “cruel” to these poor souls. It's enough to make...

The Minnesota Department of Transportation emergency response executive who failed to return to the state for 10 days after the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed was fired Friday for taking unauthorized trips, making excessive personal calls on her MnDOT cell phone and bringing embarrassment to the state.Staying away from crisis Kevin Hanretta, who was at a conference with Pitt when the bridge collapsed, told MnDOT's investigator that Pitt was torn between staying on the East Coast and returning to Minnesota. Hanretta told the investigator that Pitt decided to stay put because her staff was "doing a great job" and she was...

MINNEAPOLIS - As the estimated cost of recovering from an interstate bridge collapse surges past $400 million, survivors of the deadly disaster just wish they could get a few thousand dollars here and there to make ends meet. About 30 of the more than 100 people injured in the Aug. 1 collapse, which killed 13 people, meet weekly to talk about the troubles it's caused them. This past week, one man spoke of his struggles with a $41,000 medical bill. Others mentioned missed paychecks. That they've all had such problems getting aid irritated fellow survivor Kimberly J. Brown enough that...

John Piper pastors Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, whose main campus is about 1 mile from the I35 bridge over the Mississippi River that collapsed August 1. His reflections on that tragedy has been distributed far and wide and helped provide a biblical perspective on such events. Piper also responded forcefully and helpfully to the awful, God-dishonoring, soul-destroying and comfort-robbing words of Rabbi Harold Kushner on that tragedy. Both articles are worth reading and passing along to anyone and everyone who wonders "why bad things happen to good people." They are models in pastoral theology and ministry. Roger Olsen used...

The last victim of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse has been recovered from the water. The long, complex search for the disaster's cause is ramping up in earnest. It's about the time we'd expect the lawyers to descend. But the pinstripes are already out of the gate, setting new records for jumping the gun in a disaster. Just days after the collapse, while recovery crews were still battling treacherous waters, Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben -- one of the state's highest profile personal injury firms -- petitioned for access to the site for three attorneys and two expert witnesses. An immediate...

Pounded and strained by heavy traffic and weakened by missing bolts and cracking steel, the failed Minnesota bridge over the Mississippi River also faced a less obvious enemy: Birds. Inspectors began documenting the buildup of pigeon dung on the span near downtown Minneapolis two decades ago. Experts say the corrosive guano deposited all over the span's framework helped the steel beams rust faster. Although investigators have yet to identify the cause of the bridge's Aug. 1 collapse, which killed at least 13 people and injured about 100, the pigeon problem is one of many factors that dogged the structure. "There...

Pounded and strained by heavy traffic and weakened by missing bolts and cracking steel, the failed interstate bridge over the Mississippi River also faced a less obvious enemy: pigeons. Inspectors began documenting the buildup of pigeon dung on the span near downtown Minneapolis two decades ago. Experts say the corrosive guano deposited all over the Interstate 35W span's framework helped the steel beams rust faster...

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Pounded and strained by heavy traffic and weakened by missing bolts and cracking steel, the failed interstate bridge over the Mississippi River also faced a less obvious enemy: pigeons. Inspectors began documenting the buildup of pigeon dung on the span near downtown Minneapolis two decades ago. Experts say the corrosive guano deposited all over the Interstate 35W span's framework helped the steel beams rust faster. Although investigators have yet to identify the cause of the bridge's Aug. 1 collapse, which killed at least 13 people and injured about 100, the pigeon problem is one of...

Minneapolis I-35 bridge collapse: Failure Analysis The I-35 West bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, consisted of three trussed spans and several beam and post spans typical of 1960's era freeway construction. Analysis to date here at Free Republic has centered on looking for the triggering cause in the bridge collapse, and the sequence of failure, as determined by available pre- and post-collapse imagery and video. Efforts so far have been hampered by uncertainty regarding the condition and disposition of the eastern truss panels originally located above and near pier 6. I hope to rectify this uncertainty and...

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office has confirmed the body of Greg Jolstad, 45, of Mora, has been recovered from the site of the 35W bridge collapse. The recovery brings the total number of confirmed deaths, and recovered victims, to 13. No more victims are believed to remain in the wreckage of the collapse.

In the wake of the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Gov. Tim Pawlenty's approval rating has climbed to its highest level recorded during his tenure in office, a new poll shows. The poll, conducted by SurveyUSA over the past weekend, found that 59 percent of Minnesotans approve of the job Pawlenty is doing at a time when the aftermath of the collapse has thrust him into the national spotlight. By comparison, 37 percent of Minnesotans disapprove of his job performance and 4 percent have no opinion. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Human remains were found in two of four vehicles taken from the wreckage of the Interstate 35 bridge collapse since Wednesday evening, officials said Thursday.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007 Two recent tragedies -- in Minnesota and in Utah -- have held the nation's attention. The implications of these tragedies also deserve attention. Those politicians who are always itching to raise tax rates have seized upon the neglected infrastructure of the country as another reason to do what they are always trying to do. Those who live by talking points now have a great one: "How can we fight an expensive war and repair our neglected infrastructure without raising taxes?" Plausible as this might sound, tax rates are not tax revenues. The two things have moved...

I just received a copy of the last bridge inspection report on the bridge that collapsed in Minnesota last week. While there is no smoking gun, it points to MANY possible failure points. Where I am coming from is this: I am a Certified FHWA bridge inspector and have additional training in fracture critical bridges (which this bridge was). I am mainly concentrating on the center section, since that is where the failure started. The report was dated June 2006. It is 50 pages long. Interestingly, it was NOT done by a private engineering firm (like mine) while under contract...

At least seven people died, and he voted for the aid. But that didn’t stop U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski from suggesting Minnesota is trying to “screw” the rest of the country out of federal funding for its collapsed Interstate bridge, generating a firestorm among political bloggers. Comments the Nanticoke Democrat made Tuesday at a regional economic forum at the University of Scranton were posted on political Web logs, or “blogs,” touching off the controversy. “His comments are grossly inappropriate. He needs to apologize to the victims’ families for his rude comments,” a contributor wrote on one Web site. During...

Two failed bridges. Two scarily similar scenarios. Last week, the Interstate 35W span over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed under the weight of rush-hour traffic and construction crews. Federal investigators now wonder whether the design of steel plates joining beams is to blame. Eleven years earlier, the eastbound I-90 bridge over the Grand River in Lake County (Ohio) failed. The reason: the same steel plates, called gussets. They had corroded, then buckled after crews blasted them during painting preparations. But while the Minnesota catastrophe has shaken the nation and prompted warnings to states to inspect other truss bridges and...

"How long will it take," I thought, as I watched the coverage of the collapsed bridge outside of Minneapolis, "before someone blames President George W. Bush?" It turns out, not long. As divers attempted to locate possible victims submerged in the murky waters of the Mississippi, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) said, "I think we should look at this tragedy that occurred as a wake-up call for us. We have -- all over the country -- crumbling infrastructure, highways, bridges, dams, and we really need to take a hard look at this." Calling it "the right thing to...

For some, too far is never far enough....

MINNEAPOLIS — Authorities investigating the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge are looking for a person who was in a kayak below or near the bridge when it tumbled into the Mississippi River last week, Minneapolis Police Capt. Mike Martin said Wednesday. "We need to talk to that person," Martin said.

A week after a deadly bridge collapse, U.S. Navy divers cut through tangled debris with underwater torches and saws on Wednesday in the search for victims while investigators identified a possible flaw in the 40-year-old span's design.

A Quarter-Billion Dollars Goes to Repair a 1/3-Mile, 64-Foot-High Bridge Before adjourning for its August recess early Sunday, Congress quickly passed a bill spending $250 million to repair the 1,907-foot I-35 bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, an expenditure of about $130,000 per foot. This is more than three times the cost-per-foot of Alaska's infamous "Bridge to Nowhere." Under the bill, the federal government will bear the full cost of I-35 repairs. The quarter-billion-dollar spending measure raced through Congress in about two days. According to the Department of Transportation, the collapsed I-35 bridge was 1,907 feet long (just over one-third of a...

By now it's been so widely adopted by the media that it's easy to be numb to it, but Chicago Tribune's E.A. Torriero breathed new life into the Bush-caused-it meme in the I-35W bridge collapse story by adding a new twist. The bridge collapse, suggested Torriero, is insult added to injury for mostly Muslim Somali immigrants already angered by American foreign policy. In a story filed the evening of August 7, Torriero portrayed the collapse as insult added to injury for Somali immigrants, weaving in suggestions that America under President Bush is becoming akin to a third world country, unable...

The Minneapolis bridge disaster that suddenly is the symbol of the nation’s crumbling infrastructure could tip the scales in favor of billions of dollars in higher gasoline taxes for repairs coast to coast. There are 500 bridges across the country similar to the Minneapolis span, and “these are potential deathtraps,” said Rep. Don Young, RAlaska, former chairman of the House Transportation Committee. “We have to, as a Congress, grasp this problem. And, yes, I would even suggest, fund this problem with a tax,” he said. One-quarter of the nation’s bridges, including the one in Minneapolis, have been classified as structurally...

Excerpt - 360 degree aerial panorama over the collapsed I-35W bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, MN. This was shot the morning after the collapse when there was a TFR (temporary flight restriction) over the bridge, and I had to fly significantly higher than I normally shoot, so you won't be able to see much detail in the bridge. I may be able to do more at a decent altitude when the TFR is lifted. Click and drag to move around, up, or down. SHIFT zooms in, CTRL zooms out. (QuickTime or Java required)

An elite team of Navy divers joined the search for victims of the interstate bridge collapse Tuesday, bringing to the job lessons learned from such disasters as TWA Flight 800 and the loss of the space shuttle Columbia. The team of 16 divers and a five-member command crew arrived a day earlier. Once their gear arrived before dawn Tuesday, several divers immediately entered the Mississippi River even though local officials encouraged them to wait until daybreak. "Two in the morning, they dove into the water," Minneapolis Police Capt. Mike Martin said, calling them "the best divers in the world." "These...

New Orleans (AP) -- For New Orleans residents, the scene was all too familiar: President Bush, touring the site of the collapsed I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, promising to cut red tape and rebuild as quickly as possible. Nearly two years ago, with parts of New Orleans still under water after Hurricane Katrina, Bush made similar declarations in the French Quarter. The president's promise was all Melanie Thompson needed to hear to bring back her family of five and begin work on their flooded home. But today Thompson's family is still living in a cramped trailer and awaiting aid to rebuild....

Bridge collapse inspires threats against MnDOT employees, senator says MnDOT employees are facing threats in the wake of the I35W bridge collapse, says the chair of the Senate Transportation Committtee. Some Minnesota Department of Transportation employees have found themselves the target of "very serious threats" in the wake of the 35W bridge collapse, Sen. Steve Murphy said in a Monday news conference. As a result, he said, MnDOT is considering taking bridge inspection reports off its website until the names and contact phone numbers for individual bridge inspectors and other officials can be removed.

Dunwoody College is offering to help pay tuition for Jeremy Hernandez, the Interstate 35W bridge's school bus rescue hero. Jeremy told reporters at a news conference that his financial difficulties forced him to drop out of Dunwoody. He aspired to be an automotive mechanic. Dunwoody received many phone calls and e-mails after the news conference from alumni and staff encouraging the college to help Jeremy with school. In response, the College responded with an e-mail to alumni and faculty that stated its intention to help Jeremy re-enroll at Dunwoody An e-mail issued by the Dunwoody administration to staff and alumni...

Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn., have a proposal for improving the country's aging infrastructure — an issue likely to get renewed attention due to Wednesday's bridge collapse in the Twin Cities. Tragedies like the bridge collapse in Minneapolis will continue to happen in the United States until the country rebuilds its infrastructure, Hagel said Thursday. "We've really got to get at it, because if we don't, we'll have more tragedies and more loss of life," he said. "It will cause officials to shut down roads, to shut down bridges . . . simply to ensure the safety...

Families are still huddled near the bridge but already Congressional Democrats are blasting the Bush Administration for failing to spend enough money on infrastructure. This is as indecent as it is stupid. One briefing today declared there are 77,000 bridges in the same classification as the 35W. The problem is obviously the inspection process, not the expenditure --an inability to focus on and find those structures close to catastrophic collapse. The bridge was in fact undergoing a $9 million maintenance program, with many workers on the span when disaster struck. Would $9 million have been enough to repair whatever flaw...

What does the bridge collapse in Minneapolis have in common with the Hurricane Katrina fiasco in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast? The answer is the neglect of infrastructure. If you saw Spike Lee's splendid documentary, "When The Levees Broke," you got to see the levees developed in Holland. This is a country sitting below sea level and it's managed to build a state-of-the-art dike system that has enabled it to avoid the type of flooding seen in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast. On the other hand, the United States has a dike and levee system that is...

Nearly a fifth of America's roads are now considered in poor shape and about one-in-four bridges is rated "structurally deficient." The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that the cost to fix these problems is a staggering $460 billion. The tab grows far larger when you add in the hundreds of billions to build the new transportation infrastructure that's needed to handle the country's growth. Part of the problem is that big increases in state and local spending for politically popular programs, especially Medicaid and education, as well costly public employee pensions and benefits, have crowded out infrastructure -- even as...

I've been looking at some of the video showing the collapse of the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis and it looks like the collapse could have resulted from a major mistake by the company working on the bridge's surface. The bridge carries eight lanes of traffic, four each direction. To maintain an even load on the bridge supports during construction the contractor should have either worked on the two inside lanes of both sides of the bridge or the two outside lanes. Instead the contractor worked on the inside two lanes of one side and the outside...

ANKENY, Iowa - Republican John McCain said Saturday that Congress could share in the blame for the Minnesota bridge collapse because lawmakers diverted billions of dollars in transportation money from road work to pet projects. "I think perhaps you can make the argument that part of the responsibility lies with the Congress of the United States," the Arizona senator said. McCain said Congress spent roughly $20 billion on special-interest projects when it approved a new highway bill, signed into law by President Bush. "We spent approximately $20 billion of that money on pork barrel, earmark projects," said McCain. "Maybe if...

"President Bush surveyed Minneapolis' collapsed highway bridge from the ground and air Saturday, viewing the concrete slabs and twisted steel that once spanned the Mississippi River. He pledged to help cut the red tape to reconstruct the span." ""Our message to the Twin Cities is we want to get this bridge rebuilt as quick as possible," Bush said after visiting with rescue workers and people who watched the bridge crumble. "We understand that this is a main artery of life here."" ""I do promise that she's going to listen to the local authorities to find out what the folks here...

The collapse of the I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis is a tragedy of gargantuan proportions but it was followed by bravery, stories of heroism and miracles also on a grand scale. Top fire fighter, Chief Jim Clark of the Minneapolis Fire Department exclaimed that the first miracle was the low death toll. Clark said, ““We were surprised that we didn’t have more people seriously injured and killed, I think it was something of a miracle.” With upwards of 500 cars crossing the bridge at any given moment that qualifies as a miracle for most of us.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Friday he is willing to reverse his longstanding opposition to a state gas tax increase in the wake of the Minneapolis bridge collapse. The state's gas tax has been at 20 cents per gallon since 1988. Pawlenty had vetoed bills to raise it in 2005 and earlier this year. "Everything is on the table," Pawlenty said Friday evening on the "Almanac" news program. "I will be moving to consider and put on the table a gas tax increase." Pawlenty said he hoped in exchange, legislators would accept some of his ideas for funding roads and bridges....

Though inspections rate more than 70,000 bridges nationwide structurally deficient, a top transportation official Friday called the deadly failure of a Mississippi River bridge an "anomaly" and said motorists shouldn't fear for their safety. "I don't believe that they should be worried at all," National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker said while visiting the bridge wreckage in Minneapolis. Rules in place for 30 years "have improved the conditions and the standards that in fact these things are being inspected on," he said. "But with that said, as a result of this catastrophic disaster, we're going to be looking at...

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Politicians trying to account for one of the worst bridge collapses in U.S. history cast blame ranging from engineering faults to the Iraq war on Friday, while divers tried to reach the bodies of more victims in the Mississippi River's treacherous waters. As investigators probed Wednesday's collapse that killed at least five people, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said outside experts would review the decisions of state engineers to shore up problems with the heavily-traveled 40-year-old bridge in central Minneapolis. Engineers had decided to periodically inspect the steel superstructure beneath the Interstate 35W bridge and bolt on reinforcing...

Engineers are trying to understand what caused the catastrophic collapse of the bridge over the Mississippi river in Minnesota. Resurfacing work was taking place, but the bridge was last inspected in 2006 and no significant structural problems were found. Such complete bridge collapses are a very rare occurrence. If they happen, it is either because the load is too heavy, or the connections between the bridge's structural elements are too weak, Keith Eaton, chief executive of the UK's Institution of Structural Engineers, told the BBC. "The engineers will have to see where the collapse started. Clearly a failure occurred somewhere...

President Bush signed the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 in the Oval Office this morning. The president, along with Vice President Cheney and other members of his administration, then met with the counter-terrorism team at the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building in Washington. Afterwards, the president made a statement to the press, saying he wants the Democrats in Congress to stop playing politics with our national defense and send him an intelligence bill that he can sign, forcing Congress to stay in session through the August break if necessary. The president does have that authority. (Transcript) First Lady Laura Bush...

Plunging 60 feet off a bridge in a car sounds like a sure death sentence, but survival experts say people can and do walk away from such a calamity, for a simple reason: They were wearing their seat belts. "The people who got out without a scratch absolutely had their seat belts on," says Brian Brawdy, survival expert and a former New York City police officer. "If you're knocked unconscious because you weren't wearing your seat belt, you won't be swimming to the surface." Kimberly Brown, who survived the bridge collapse, told "Good Morning America's" Robin Roberts that had she...

The bridge collapse along Interstate 35 in Minnesota has many in our region thinking of the Silver Bridge Collapse that happened in Point Pleasant in 1967. It happened on December 15, 1967. 46 people were killed when the bridge fell into the Ohio River at about 5:15pm. West Virginia governor Hullett Smith learned of the tragedy while in a meeting of the board of public works. Investigators later found that the bridge's eyebar pin was worn, corroded, and had not been inspected in years. A bridge in St. Marys, West Virginia, designed identically to the Silver Bridge, was closed immediately....

The media waited less than 17 hours after the tragic bridge collapse before pointing fingers. At least one U.S. Senator, Patty Murray, seemed to blame Bush when she said yesterday that the Bush Administration has not supported Democrat efforts to increase spending on critical infrastructure. One of the problems here is that in so many instances a Democrat demand for infrastructure spending is merely a thinly disguised attempt to funnel money to construction unions as thanks for electoral and financial support. Nick Coleman at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune says that this collapse never would have happened if it wasn't...

Click here for live camera. The camera updates every 5 seconds or so. The link doesn't bring you straight to the camera though. When the map comes up, find 35W and where it intersects with 394 and head north from there. The second and third dots above that intersection are the northbound and southbound cameras that cover the bridge. I imagine MNDoT has pictures of the bridge collapsing.